Joe Camel in a Bottle - free online training

Free online training: Alcohol Trends & Research Update
Thursday, April 19
12-1:15 p.m.

Learn about:

-- the dramatic shift in beverage preference of America’s youth from beer to distilled spirits during the last decade.

-- the role of distilled spirits marketing in challenging beer’s dominance of the youth market.

-- the implications of spirits marketing for underage drinking prevention policy.

Speaker is James F. Mosher, JD: Alcohol Policy Specialist.  Mr. Mosher's pioneering work in alcohol policy has brought him international acclaim. His expertise spans numerous topics, including underage drinking prevention, alcohol marketing, community prevention strategies, alcohol law, dram shop liability, and social host liability. Jim Mosher has completed a new case study of alcohol marketing to young people, "Joe Camel in a Bottle: Diageo, the Smirnoff Brand, and the Transformation of the Youth Alcohol Market", which was published in the American Journal of Public Health.


To register: http://www.udetc.org/audioconfregistration.asp.

Le Bouclier de Bacchus -- Restaurant Review

Address: 18 Rue Saint-Lazare

Nearest transport: Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (ligne 12)
Hours:

Tue:	10:00 am	-	8:30 pm
Wed - Fri:	10:00 am	-	12:00 am
Sat:	3:00 pm	-	12:00 am

Reservations: recommended

Telephone: 01 48 74 94 99

http://bouclierdebacchus.com/

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor
€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; $$$$ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on plats--main course)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  2.5 - Star..................................................€ (Pre-fix menu)...............................................1 - Bell

Our friends made reservations at one of their neighborhood restaurants, “Le Bouclier de Bacchus.”  It’s an interesting restaurant, as soon as you walk in you can see all the wine bottles displayed, quite impressive.  We were 11-people, so we sat upstairs. I found it really interesting, they had several “living-room” areas for dining. It’s hard for me to sit on couches and basically eat from a coffee table, so fortunately we were able to get a long table.  The prices were extremely reasonable, for 2-courses at 17.50€ and for 3-courses at 24€.  

They brought out a “jambon persil” ham for the table to share. It was basically ham seasoned with parsley. It was OK, I guess, but reminded me of ham you get in U.S. and serve during Easter. For some reason I was expecting a Basque, Bayonne or even a Spanish (Iberia) style ham, would have been preferable! 

It was very hard to read the menu, since deciphering French handwriting is not my forté.  So, I’ll use the English equivalents.

 The Entrées:

I had the “smooth cheese”.  There were some at the table that really loved it and others who didn’t. I was on the camp that didn’t like it. It tasted like someone scooped out a butter cupcake, put a round of cheese on top and then heated it. It tasted like a bad cheese pudding surrounded by greens. Very "cake" doughy and not pleasant at all.

Salmon salad. It was executed well, and although it wasn’t outstanding, for those who had it, it was good.

Quail salad. I had a taste of it, again, it wasn’t anything special, nor did it stand out as a gastronomical feat, it was just OK. My 10-year old niece could’ve made it.

And, the remaining group had the green salad, which they all said they enjoyed.

The Plats:

I had the pheasant with a foie gras sauce. The pheasant was cooked well and tasted fine. Here’s the problem I had with the dish, the foie gras sauce. Two of us commented that it was extremely rich, and for the life of me, we couldn’t figure out why they called it a foie gras sauce, it was heavy cream and butter, with emphasis on the cream! and a hint of foie gras. As a starch, they had rice. It was a very unbalanced, unattractive dish.

Several people had the veal, and according to them, it was a very, very, good dish.

The desserts:

The gingerbread, called spiced bread in France was a bit too sweet and the sauce was a bit too gooey. Nothing wrong with that, but this is France for God sake, you sort of expect something a little more refined. I found it just OK.

The Soufflé Grand Marnier I loved. This was probably the highlight of my meal. It’s actually an ice cream but light and refreshing, with a nice fine crusty topping. What can I say, I was a fan of this dessert. And, you can definitely taste the Grand Marnier.

The wines, we had several bottles of Ajaccio at 12.50€ each, not a bad price.

Prices:

For the price you can’t beat it. For 11-people, it averaged 32€ per person, which included several glasses of wine, tea and coffee. Excellent price!

Summary:

If you’re looking for haute cuisine, or more refined cuisine this is not the place for you. This restaurant is known for their low priced wines, ambiance, and home cooking, what maman would make, if maman was an average cook.  Everything was just OK. However, the service was EXCELLENT. Think of the food as secondary, and you're there to socialize with friends!

Liquor Control Board hearing April 25 about Responsible Vendor Program

The Washington State Liquor Control Board (LCB) is asking for public comment regarding soon-to-expire emergency rules regarding the Responsible Vendor Program (RVP) at an April 25 public hearing.

I-1183 mandates the creation of a RVP and the LCB created one under an emergency rule which is now set to expire on May 25. So, the LCB is holding a public hearing to get input on creating permanent rules for a RVP in Washington.

This is an important opportunity to let your prevention voice be heard and weigh-in on aspects of retail alcohol sales rules that have a direct impact on preventing youth access to alcohol and other public health and safety issues in communities across Washington.

Click here for the LCB announcement.

The hearing will be held:
April 25, 2012, 10:00 a.m.
Liquor Control Board Offices
3000 Pacific Ave SE, Olympia

Comments can be emailed to the LCB until April 25 at rules@liq.wa.gov.

Youth substance abuse prevention advocates may ask the LCB to strengthen the RVP by:

-- banning the display of alcohol products in areas that contain products likely to be purchased by youth such as sodas, snack foods and energy drinks;

-- banning the display of youth-oriented advertising for alcohol products;

-- banning spirits sampling in stores;

-- banning self check-out of all alcohol products to preventing youth from avoiding identification checks;

-- requiring alcohol products to be placed away from doors to prevent shoplifting;

-- requiring that only employees 21 years and older be able to sell alcohol.

CDC provides recommendations about preventing binge drinking

Do you want to know more about the important role public policy, including strongly enforced regulations, play in preventing binge drinking?  Check out this video from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here are a few slides from the presentation.

As this chart shows, binge drinking is more of a problem associated with affluence than poverty.  In fact, one of the CDC experts in the video stated that poverty is a protective factor when it comes to binge drinking.  This is especially relevant for the community that Prevention WINS serves (NE Seattle) which has an average household income higher than the City average.

Half of high school students who binge drink consume liquor (spirits, hard alcohol) -- this is of particular concern in Washington State since liquor is about to become much more available now that voters approved the privatization of liquor sales.  In NE Seattle, liquor will now be sold in about 25 stores that youth regularly visit.  Previously, 3 stores in NE Seattle sold liquor -- stores that very few youth visited.  

When people hear the phrase "underage drinking prevention", what often comes to mind first are school-based prevention classes and/or after-school activities.  However, underage drinking prevention is also about creating communities in which alcohol is difficult for teenagers to obtain, there are few alcohol advertisements, strict regulations are enforced and people openly acknowledge that underage drinking is not acceptable.  These are examples of "environmental" strategies for prevention.  

I will blog about the environmental strategies, specifically policies, discussed during this CDC presentation in another post later this week.  

Prevention WINS leaders in the news

Within the last two weeks, Prevention WINS coalition leaders were featured in two local news stories.

Former coalition Co-Chair Carolyn Bernhard was featured in a story appearing in JTNews: Helping teens be safe, healthy and engaged. 

Yesterday, coalition Co-Chair Gary Hothi was interviewed by KING 5 about the City of Seattle's petition to the Liquor Control Board to extend hours of alcohol service.